Lear Facts» Built in 1938.» Designed by Paul R. Williams, a leading architect in the West in the early 1900s who created homes for celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and automobile magnate E.L. Cord. Williams also designed a landmark restaurant at Los Angeles International Airport and the United Nations building in Paris. » Originally was the First Church of Christ Scientist.

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Across the street from the Truckee River in downtown Reno is the Lear Theater, a grand neoclassical structure that has remained empty for most of the past decade.

Designed in 1938 by Paul R. Williams, one of the nation's first black architects and a leading architect in the West in the early 1900s, it was the First Church of Christ Scientist until the church decided in the early 1990s to sell and move to another location.

Because of a $1.1 million pledge from local philanthropist Moya Lear, the nonprofit Reno-Sparks Theater Coalition, now called Lear Theater, Inc., was able to purchase the property in 1998 and began the first phase of renovations. Since then, this passionate group has raised more than $9 million and spent $9.4 million through June 2009 on the capital campaign.

"Over the 12 years, we've had six major construction pieces," said Cathy Blankenship, chief operating officer for the Lear Theater. "The way it worked was they'd raise a little bit and they'd spend it all on construction. And then they'd raise more and then we'd spend it on construction."

Many stroll by the pale yellow building and wonder what the building is and if it ever will be open.

"Some people are done," Blankenship said. "Some people just want to beat us up about the history."

Community arts

The Lear Theater wants to be the home for the local arts groups that are looking for an affordable, smaller production venue.

While the Pioneer Theater is a performance arts venue that seats 1,500, the Lear will be a flexible performance space that seats 299.

Not just for theater, the Lear could by used musical groups, large and small, and dance ensembles.

"Once that building opens, it will generate $2 million annually into the economy by the other services and other things that will happen," Blankenship said, quoting a study conducted by the University of Nevada, Reno's Small Business Development Center. "I love that 28 arts agencies will use this building. And they don't have a building this size that they can rent that's affordable. It's going to help them raise money and performances and showcase; and the community will get to see them."

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The City of Reno's cultural master plan also shows a need for a smaller performance venue, Blankenship said.

Andrew Heglund, president of the board for the Reno Jazz Orchestra and drummer for the 10-piece community band, was unaware of the Lear's mission but said a performing space like that would help them financially.

"Obviously, it is a financial burden to rent some of the different halls in town," he said. "Very often times, we end up not breaking even."

The orchestra also would like to grow and have a regular concert series. And to do that, he said a consistent venue is helpful for audience patronage. The size also works with the music they offer, he said.

"That would be a nice crowd for a Reno Jazz Orchestra concert," Heglund said.

To become a home for quality performing arts in the Reno Arts District, the Lear has begun another capital campaign to earn $5.4 million to match available federal funds while learning from their mistakes.

Lessons learned

Blankenship, an administrator with more than 25 years working in nonprofit organizations, said the Lear Theater has made textbook fundraising mistakes.

"We were too vocal," she said. "We were too visible. Every gift was public. Moya's gift was a big huge ta-da. Every gift after that was a big announcement. And then there was construction and people could see it."

The correct way to run a capital campaign is to raise about 80 percent of the total that is needed in what Blankenship called the "quiet phase."

"Then you go public and you start announcing the big gifts," she said. "It might have been seven or eight years ago, but you start announcing the big gifts. And you let the people know and you get the general public excited about it and then you can complete that campaign. The Nevada Museum of Art did it exactly right. They had raised 90 percent of the money before it was ever in the paper that they were building a new museum in Reno."

The people supporting the Lear Theater were arts lovers and they had no idea about the fundamentals of fundraising, Blankenship said.

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"And that's not, I think, the fault of our early leadership," she said. "It was just that they were excited about it. If you made a gift, we wanted everybody to know you made a gift to us and we'd tell everybody. But when that happens, people are assuming it's almost done. And when you do that for 10 years, people pretty soon say, 'What is wrong with those people? Are they not spending their money where they should be?'"

In 2007, the Lear Theater board assessed community feedback and decided they could not successfully raise the necessary $12 million to complete the building construction.

"That's how much the old design was," Blankenship said.

So the board found out they could qualify for federal funding and historic and new market tax credits if they made big changes.

"We redesigned it," she said.

Historical treasure

Realizing it was going to be difficult to raise the money to complete construction, in 2006 the Lear Theater board received a Save America's Treasures Grant.

"The City of Reno actually wrote that grant on our behalf to help us get that funding," Blankenship said of the $480,000.

The Lear was advised their design did not meet federal standards for restoring historical buildings and they would need to redesign.

"So knowing that the city had gone out on a limb and gotten this money for us, how do you tell the city 'thanks but no thanks?'" she said. "And Harry Reid had gone out on a limb and got the money for us."

The board found a New York-based architect that had theater restoration expertise. After submitting four designs, the federal government approved it last summer.

The restrooms will be in the basement, which floods when the Truckee River rises. Dressing rooms and a loading dock were needed.

"We won't have a concession area," she said. "We'll have to have carts now. Concessions are a huge part of your income. We want to stay open. We want to be able to be self-sufficient so that we can allow all those groups to be in there at a reasonable rate."

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So why restore when a brand new building that size would cost an estimated $14.4 million in construction costs?

"The costs overall might be comparable, but the big difference is we are saving a historical structure," Blankenship said.

Quiet campaign

Knowing that they are going to get $6 million in federal funding, the Lear Theater board is following the traditional fundraising plan and quietly raising 80 percent of what they must match.

Mayor Bob Cashell is the honorary chairperson.

Board members like Ken Dalton will knock on doors and ask for donations.

"I tell everybody I love that building," he said. "It caught my eye and I thought, 'What a beautiful building.' It just stands there radiating along the river. With everything that is changing around it and it is not changing, I just find that fascinating."

Dalton, Cashell and other Lear Theater lovers will be the silent presence in the community over the next 1½ to two years as they attempt to raise by following the rules of quiet campaign fundraising.

But there will still be much work to do. After fundraising goals are met, the 18-month federal window for construction begins.